An extension in Hertford is judged against a district plan, and in three wards against a neighbourhood plan on top of it. The ground under your garden changes across the town. We build the extension and coordinate the structural engineer, the applications and the inspections.
Which plans your extension is judged against
East Herts District Council is the local planning authority for Hertford. It adopted its District Plan on 23 October 2018, for the period 2011 to 2033, and that is the starting point for any application.
Three Hertford wards have made neighbourhood plans of their own: Bengeo and Sele in July 2021, and Kingsmead on 26 July 2023. A fourth area, Hertford Castle Plus, covering Castle, Kingsmead West and Bengeo South, was designated in July 2024, and that plan has not yet been made. Which ward you are in decides whether there is a second layer of policy to answer.
A neighbourhood plan rule that caps your roof height
In Kingsmead, roof height is capped by policy. Kingsmead neighbourhood plan policy HKBE4 requires rooflines of development in residential areas to be limited to the height of the homes immediately adjacent or opposite.
For a two storey rear extension in that ward, that is a constraint to design to before drawings are submitted. We work to it from the first sketch, so the scheme that goes in is the scheme that can be built.
What is under your garden
Under the built up part of Hertford the bedrock is chalk. British Geological Survey 1:50,000 mapping shows it as the Lewes Nodular Chalk Formation and Seaford Chalk Formation, undifferentiated. The south east of the town is the exception, where the Lambeth Group of clay, silt and sand comes to bedrock. That includes the south east end of Mangrove Road, the southern part of Balls Park, London Road and Foxholes Business Park.
Groundworks in the historic core can also meet archaeological interest. The county Historic Environment Record holds about 350 records within Hertford Conservation Area. Foundation depths and trial holes are set by the engineer for your address, and we build to that design.
Water and trees before you dig
Water is a standing constraint in Hertford. The Environment Agency runs four separate flood warning areas that name the town, one for each river. They are the River Beane at Hertford, the River Lee at Hertford and Ware, the River Rib at Wadesmill to Hertford, and the River Mimram from Tewin to Hertford. The Kingsmead neighbourhood plan also attributes drainage pressure in that ward in part to Victorian and Edwardian properties having been substantially extended since its two ditches were designed.
Trees carry their own timetable. You must give the council six weeks notice under section 211 before carrying out work to a tree in a conservation area that is not already covered by a Tree Preservation Order. That notice sits at the front of the programme, not in the middle of it.
- Steel goalpost frames where the rear wall opens up
- Planning applications and permitted development assessments
- Building control inspections at foundation, damp course and steel stages
- Full fit-out, finishing and making good
- Party Wall Act notices for excavation near a neighbour's wall
The GS Renovation Difference in Hertford
An extension here has three approval questions running at once: the district plan, any neighbourhood plan for your ward, and building regulations. Getting those in the right order is most of the job. We appoint the structural engineer, coordinate the building control application and inspections, and build to the calculations issued. One point of contact from the first survey to the final inspection, fully insured, with a free quotation and no obligation.
- One point of contact on the phone, not a call centre
- A dedicated project manager from first survey to handover
- Honest updates if a date or a detail has to move
- Registered in England, Companies House no. 14611254
- Garden levels and access made good where the build meets outside
- Insulation and thermal detailing to current regulations